Car Seat Headrest

Car Seat Headrest is a US indie rock band that begins as a solo recording project by Will Toledo in 2010 and is active from 2010 to the present. The group has origins in Leesburg, Virginia, and later operates from Seattle, Washington. Its core members include Toledo, Ethan Ives, Seth Dalby and Andrew Katz, with Christian Northover, Austin Ruhf, Katie Wood and Jacob Bloom also part of the line-up at different points.

Early years

Car Seat Headrest starts as Toledo’s solo project after he graduates high school. Before using the Car Seat Headrest name, he releases music as Nervous Young Men. He chooses the new name because he often records vocals in the back seat of his car for privacy and initially releases more experimental material anonymously.

During 2010, he releases the first four Car Seat Headrest albums, titled 1, 2, 3 and 4. The early numbered records use less traditional song structures and stream-of-consciousness lyrics, with 3 and 4 helping establish the band’s lo-fi indie rock style. While attending Virginia Commonwealth University, he releases the Sunburned Shirts EP. Parts of that EP are later combined with 5 to form My Back Is Killing Me Baby, the first titled album. Material from 5 also appears on the compilation Little Pieces of Paper with "No" Written on Them.

After transferring to the College of William & Mary, Toledo releases Twin Fantasy, a concept album about a relationship he is in at the time. This is followed by Monomania and the Starving While Living EP in 2012. Around this period he begins performing live with Katie Wood, Austin Ruhf and Christian Northover, and the group records the live album Live at WCWM: Car Seat Headrest at the university studio in July 2013. The following month he releases Nervous Young Man, a two-hour double album that reworks songs and the title from Nervous Young Men. The outtakes compilation Disjecta Membra is issued alongside it for buyers who pay $5 or more. His final solo release is How to Leave Town, an hour-long EP with heavy electronic instrumentation and more ambitious song structures.

Matador Records and full-band era

In 2015, Car Seat Headrest signs to Matador Records. After Toledo moves to Seattle, he recruits Jacob Bloom and Andrew Katz through Craigslist to record and tour. Teens of Style appears in October 2015 as the band’s first release not to be self-released only through Bandcamp. Bloom later leaves for medical school and is replaced by Ethan Ives, who shifts from bass to guitar and other instruments, with Seth Dalby taking over bass duties. The four-piece line-up of Toledo, Ives, Dalby and Katz becomes established in live performances and later releases.

Teens of Denial is released in 2016 using more traditional studio methods and brings the band wider attention. In 2017 the band releases an alternate mix of "War Is Coming (If You Want It)" through Bandcamp for one day, with profits going to the Transgender Law Center. Later that year a re-recorded version of "Beach Life-In-Death" appears without announcement and leads to speculation about a new version of Twin Fantasy.

Twin Fantasy and later releases

In 2018, Matador announces Twin Fantasy (Face to Face), a re-recording of Twin Fantasy, alongside a reissue of the original album, retitled Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror). The re-recording is released in February, and the original version is issued on vinyl for Record Store Day in April. Around the same time, the band covers "Fallen Horses" by Smash Mouth, who responds with a cover of "Something Soon". The group also tours with Seattle band Naked Giants as part of an expanded live line-up.

During late 2018 and early 2019, the band tries out new material at live shows, including "Weightlifters", "Hollywood", "Stop Lying To Me", "You Know There's Someone Out There" and "Can’t Cool Me Down". In June 2019, it releases Commit Yourself Completely, a live album made from recordings of performances on the Twin Fantasy tour.

Making a Door Less Open and style

In 2020, Car Seat Headrest announces Making a Door Less Open, its first studio album of wholly new material since Teens of Denial. The release is led by "Can’t Cool Me Down" and also includes "Martin", "Hollywood" and "There Must Be More Than Blood". The album shows a shift in direction, with elements of EDM, hip hop, futurism, doo-wop, soul and rock and roll, and it appears in different versions across vinyl, CD and streaming. The release also introduces Trait, an alternate persona for Toledo, connected to the group’s comedic side project 1 Trait Danger with Andrew Katz.

The band’s sound is described as lo-fi pop and indie rock that is moody, introspective, melodic and structurally ambitious. Its listed genres include indie rock, lo-fi, noise rock, psychedelic and slacker rock. Car Seat Headrest’s influences include Radiohead, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Daniel Johnston, Destroyer, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Leonard Cohen, of Montreal, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, Swans, They Might Be Giants, Why?, R.E.M., the Who, Nirvana, the Blackout, Neil Diamond, William Onyeabor, the Clash, the Cars, James Brown, DEVO, Queen, Rod Stewart and Green Day.